All Lakers Expert Predictions For Tonight's Battle Of LA Against The Clippers
Your Los Angeles Lakers are getting set to face the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday at, you guessed it, the Crypto.com Arena. The Lakers are the technical home team for the two teams' third matchup of the year, as the Clippers lead the season series 2-0.
The Clippers have dominated the matchup as of late, winners of nine straight against the Lakers — and they enter Tuesday's matchup much healthier than the home Lakers. However, the Lakers are playing some pretty good basketball despite the injuries, and would love to continue their hot streak against their LA rival.
Here is our All Lakers expert breakdown and predictions for tonight's showdown in Los Angeles:
1. Which players in this game deserve to be All-Stars this season?
Noah: This is a tough question because if everyone was healthy, the obvious answer is four — LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. However, health has not been on the side of three out of these four guys — the lone outlier, of course, being the 38-year-old James.
LeBron will for sure be there, and he'll be a starter. Davis was making a case to be there playing at an MVP-level before he went down, but he'll need to get back on the court soon to get back in the mix. And on the Clippers' side, I only see George having a chance, as Kawhi just hasn't played in enough games. But there's a chance neither make the team, as guys like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (who the Clippers traded for in the George trade) are going to get in over them.
Alex: The fact that SGA is already clearly better than PG-13 is pretty darn hilarious. I wonder, if you gave Lawrence Frank and Jerry West truth serum, whether they would say they didn't regret making that deal that shipped out Gilgeous-Alexander for George in the first place. Anyway, I agree. LeBron James is the All-Star. Paul George might be a fringe injury replacement-type player, but he's already missed 16 games for a team hovering around .500 in a deep Western Conference. The Palmdale native would not make my final 12.
2. Who will score more points tonight between LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George?
Alex: Kawhi Leonard has, annoyingly, been on a tear recently. Across his last seven healthy games (in which the Clippers are 4-3), he's averaged 29.9 points on unsustainably good .541/.531/.939 shooting splits, 6.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.9 steals per game. I think he'll get up for this game and score 30-plus again. James has been playing incredibly well too, but I would assume defensively the Clippers do their darnedest to make the rest of the Lakers beat them.
Noah: If the Lakers want any chance of winning Tuesday's game, they're going to need a massive performance from LeBron, who's currently questionable with left ankle soreness. So assuming he plays, I see him putting together another 30-plus point performance, and leading both teams in scoring.
3. The Lakers are even more depleted without Kendrick Nunn tonight. Who do you expect to carry the load outside of LeBron?
Noah: While Kendrick Nunn wasn't exactly a premier player on this team, he did at least provide some scoring. He's been shipped off to Washington for Rui Hachimura, so the Lakers are going to need to find LeBron some help tonight, and I see that coming in the form of Troy Brown Jr. He'll play big minutes as a 3-and-D player matching up with George, and should get some open looks on the other end of the floor, too.
Alex: I agree that Troy Brown Jr. will be pretty important tonight on both sides of the ball, but he's a fairly infrequent shooter. I think Dennis Schröder, who's had a great last few games, will look to get his offense cooking in a big way against the Clippers' mediocre point guard rotation.
4. Would you rather have John Wall (a potential trade candidate at the 2022 deadline) or Russell Westbrook on the Lakers this year?
Alex: Russell Westbrook has been by far the better player this season, which I did not expect to see myself writing around this time last year. Unlike Westbrook, Wall is no longer consistently healthy, and while Westbrook has his flaws (especially in a game's closing two minutes), I'd take a healthier Brodie over this version of Wall.
Noah: As crazy as it sounds, I've loved what Westbrook has brought to the team this season. He currently sits as a favorite to win the Sixth Man of the Year Award, and has provided a spark off the bench for LA. He's also much more durable than Wall, playing 28.7 minutes in 44 games this season, as opposed to Wall's 22.2 minutes in 34 games. So I'll take Westbrook's 15.9 points, 7.6 assists and 6.6 rebounds per game over Wall's 11.4 points, 5.2 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game, even if he's turning the ball over at a higher clip.
5. How many championships does each team have?
Noah: The Lakers have 17. The Clippers have 0. Just wanted to point that one out.
Alex: I don't understand why the Clippers haven't moved to Seattle already. Surely Steve Ballmer doesn't love flying into town to watch these games every night.
6. The Lakers are five-point "home" underdogs tonight. Do you think they cover (or even finally get a win)?
Alex: It's annoying that LBJ's status has been so tenuous of late, but assuming he plays, I do think the Lakers will win. If not, things could get ugly quickly.
Noah: The Clippers have had the Lakers' number, and enter this game much healthier. The Lakers could really use a win over the Clippers — who are currently two games ahead of them in the West — but I don't see it happening today. I'm taking the Clippers and the points — it'll be a close game, but free throws at the end will put the Clippers over the top.
7. Bonus Question! Will Patrick Beverly get a technical foul tonight against his former team?
Noah: Let's have some fun and say yes. He loves getting under the skin of just about everyone, especially his former teammates. Lakers vs. Clippers on national television? Talk about Beverly's time to shine.
Alex: He got one on Sunday! I'd say so.
